


This is Destiny Calling

by FrozenSpitfire



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-23 01:09:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2528450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenSpitfire/pseuds/FrozenSpitfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's strange, but she feels as if she's known them her whole life. Honestly, it feels just like a puzzle, each one of them being a piece of it. But there are still other pieces missing: the ones that explain the meaning of everything that has been happening now that they're together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The last piece

 “I think this one is the last” Artemis says to herself, as she puts the last box down. She looks around her new apartment and smiles to herself. All those extra hours she has been through were totally worth it… and of course, with the help of her father’s money she made it and managed to buy this apartment. Not that she liked accepting his dirty money… not at all!

 She promised herself that she would give him back every penny that came out from his pocket. She’s not like him… she’s not like her family…

 She shakes her head to clear it from these thoughts. She’s by herself now! She can finally forget about everything she has been through till now.

 “Alright Artemis… let’s start unpacking!” she says with motivation, starting to rummage through boxes.

-xxx-

 “Hello Megan!” Megan Morse says, slapping her forehead slightly “You’re forgetting the eggs!” she walks up to the fridge and opens it, looking carefully for the eggs. She lets out a victorious ‘Aha!’ once she finds them.

 “Well… let’s see…” she wonders aloud, looking at the recipe “I’m going to need six eggs” she says, picking up one egg carefully and banging it slightly against the bowl’s mouth, pouring its content inside the bowl. She does the same for the remaining ones and starts stirring the dough inside the bowl. She hums to herself while stirring but it’s interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. She stops what she’s doing and cleans her hands in her apron, walking to the phone. She picks it up and clicks the answer button.

 “Hello?” she asks.

 “Megan? Is that you?” the person from the other side of the line speaks.

 “Oh! Hey Zatanna!” she says happily at her friend.

 “Hey M’gann… so, I was wondering… what are you doing?” she says suddenly, making Megan giggle and roll her eyes “I’m making a cake for my uncle and I’ll be making dinner after… you know, as a way of thanking him for letting me stay here during college… or at least till I found a house of my own. Why? I’m pretty sure you didn’t call me just to ask about that…” Megan said, suspicion evident in her voice.

 “Yeah… I was just calling to see if you’d like to hang out later or something like that… we could go to a club or a café…” she finally says and Megan giggles again.

 “Of course Zatanna! I just don’t understand why you were so nervous asking for it… is there something wrong with it?”

 “Oh no! I was just… you know… thinking we could go to that club… the one out of town and near the woods…”

Megan gasps “Why that one? You know I had such a strange feeling when we went there the first time, one year ago” she says.

 “Megan, pleaaaase?? Just this time?” Zatanna pleads her friend. Megan sighs again and shakes her head, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips “Okay, we’ll go”

 “YES! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll pick you up at nine?”

 “Okay, see you later” Megan says.

 “See you later, and thanks again Megan!”

 “You’re welcome Zatanna” Megan finally says, ending the call. Sighing she walks to the table and starts stirring the dough again.

-xxx-

“Ugh! I’m so tired!” Artemis says, throwing herself on the couch. She places her arm over her face and closes her eyes “I just want to fall in bed and sleep till tomorrow’s afternoon” she hears her phone beep, signaling a new message. She takes it from her pocket and puts it in front of her eyes.

  _Hey Artemis, just to remember you that you work today between 8p.m. and 1a.m. See you later._

 “Oh my god!” she jumps from the couch and looks at the clock, signaling 7p.m. “I almost forgot! I have got to take a shower, I reek!” she makes her way to the bathroom and turns on the water. She undresses herself and gets in.

 Once she finishes, she wraps a towel around her body and walks to her ‘new’ bedroom, searching through the closet where she had already put her clothes on. She chooses to dress a pair of dark jeans with a green tank top and a pair of sneakers. She makes her way to the kitchen and opens her fridge. She sighs “I have to go to the grocery shop, but I don’t have time right now… I guess I’ll just stop by a café and buy something to eat on the way”

 She walks into the living room and puts her phone in her jeans pocket. She picks up her purse and her keys and walks out to her car, locking the door behind her. _This is going to be a tough night_ she thinks to herself.

 She gets on her car and starts it, driving all the way through town until she finds a café where she decides to stop. She gets out of the car and closes it. She walks to the café and enters it, making a little bell attached to the door ring. She looks around and wrinkles her nose a little. This place is so dark and has just a few tables here and there. Everything inside is wood: the tables, the chairs, the walls and the floor, making it crack loudly when she takes her first step towards the counter. The only light inside the café is the one above the counter. The woman behind it looks up from a magazine she was reading and eyes Artemis a little “May I help you?” she asks. Artemis walks over to her quickly and nods “Yes. I would like to buy a sandwich and an orange juice, please” the woman nods and rushes through the kitchen doors. She leans against the counter while she waits and starts eyeing the café again until she hears a loud gasp. She jumps a little and turns towards the sound and there, sitting in a table in one of the darker corners of the café is a small old woman with a bunch of tarot cards and wide eyes “You can’t go! You can’t go today!” she says to Artemis who raises an inquisitive eyebrow.

 “What? Go where?” she asks.

 “To the place you’re going right now…” the eyes of the woman get cloudy and she stares at Artemis, who feels a chill running up her spine.

 “The place you’re about to go, is going to change your life forever” the woman starts and Artemis can almost swear her voice is deeper and darker, much like the voice of… evil? She gulps a little “It’s time for decisions, it’s now or never. Don’t do something you’ll regret, you cannot turn back time, whatever you’ll decide right now, is going to affect your whole life. Think with your mind, think with your soul, either you’re going to God or the Devil will smash it all” the woman finishes and takes a deep breath. She gasps loudly again and shakes her head vigorously.

“ Uh…” she looks at Artemis with curious eyes “Who are you?”

Artemis’ eyes widen. She has got to be kidding. Artemis was going to answer but the kitchen doors opened loudly and the woman from before walked out with Artemis’ order in her hand.

 “Mother” she says and looks at the table where the tarot cards are laying, untouched by the old woman now standing next to Artemis. The woman who came out from the kitchen places the sandwich and the juice on the counter and comes rushing to her mother “Please tell me you are not playing with the tarot cards again. You’re going to scare this girl away, just like you did with all my other costumers” the older woman looks at her daughter and shakes her head “Everything I say is the truth, I’m warning these people, they need to listen to what I say!” she then turns to Artemis “What did I say to you? What was it?!?” she demands. Artemis opens and closes her mouth several times but no sound comes out of it.

 “Mother, please. Leave this girl alone” the other woman says and starts guiding her mother to a flight of stairs that Artemis supposed must be directed to the house above the café.

 “Everything he said was true! You need to listen to _him_ , he knows what he’s saying. Watch your steps young lady, you’re in a lot of danger! Listen to his advice and think carefully about what you’re going to do next, that is going to certainly change your life as he said-” before she could say anything more, her daughter managed to walk the woman into a room and closed the door behind them.

 Artemis just keeps staring wide-eyed at the top of the stairs. She just can’t believe what just happened… okay this was so creepy…

 She looks at the counter and spots the sandwich and juice. She just wants to grab them and run away from this place as fast as she can, but then she remembers she still has to pay, so she sits in one table, waiting patiently for the waitress, looking at her clock once in a while. She tries her best to not think about this weird encounter, but it’s too difficult, it was too strange and creepy. ‘ _What did she mean by all of that? I cannot fail work on my first day, I would totally be fired!_ ’ She sighs. ‘ _Okay Artemis, it was nothing, probably some crazy old woman with a bunch of tarot cards and things that rime to say_ ’ she thinks, laughing to herself.

 Finally, to her relief, the waitress comes down 10 minutes later.

 “I am so sorry miss, I don’t know what has gotten into her… she just… sometimes she… uh, it’s complicated” the waitress says. Artemis raises her hand and shakes her head “It’s fine, don’t worry. I just waited to pay. How much is it?” she says, picking up her wallet from her purse.

 “Oh, no! What kind of person would I be if I let you pay after you having to deal with this. Please, it’s on the house” the woman says and Artemis shakes her head.

 “No way! I want to pay, it was nothing really. Now please, tell me how it is before I just give you a different amount” Artemis pleads, seeing that she had to get to work within 15 minutes. The woman sighs and tells Artemis the price. Artemis pays and picks up her things “Thank you” she says, turning around and walking towards the door.

 “I’m the one who should thank you, and once again, I’m so sorry for what happened” she apologizes.

 “It’s okay” Artemis replies not turning around. But there’s one thing that makes her stop in her tracks, frozen there. A shiver runs down her spine and she runs as fast as she can to her car, starting it and getting away from that place as fast as she can.

 She… she heard… _heard_ someone; more precisely a deep, terrifying male voice when she was walking to the door that said “Watch what you’re doing”

 Artemis doesn’t regret many things in her life, but going to that café is certainly one of the things she does.

-xxx-

 “Where is it?” Zatanna asks herself while she rummages through a drawer.

 “Aha! Finally found ya!” she says, holding up the lip gloss she was looking for. She walks to the mirror and applies it on her lips, popping them after. She picks up her purse and car keys and walks out of her room, closing the door behind her.

 “Raquel! Hurry up, I still need to pick up M’gann!” Zatanna shouted out to her friend. Raquel comes rushing out of her room “I’m here, I’m here!” she says, adjusting her leather jacket on her shoulders while walking up to her friend. Zatanna looks at the clock and pushes Raquel out of their apartment door “C’mon, let’s go!” she locks the door and they both enter Zatanna’s car. Zatanna starts it and drives off to Megan’s uncle house.

-xxx-

 “Wow, I totally forgot how beautiful this place was… despite the bad feeling I had…” Megan said, looking around.

 “Yeah… See, I told ya!” Zatanna said, beaming proudly. Megan chuckles and rolls her eyes.

 “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Raquel said, grabbing her friends’ hands and dragging them into the club. Upon entering the club they could see everything: the two big rails of stairs, one at each of their sides; the dance floor that started at the end of the stairs; the smoke zone located near the right rail of stairs; the tables that were between the two rails of stairs; the bar in the far end of the room and of course all the people enjoying the night. The music was really loud and a lot of them were dancing on the dance floor.

 “I’m thirsty” Zatanna stats “Let’s get something to drink!” she descends the stairs and passes through the amount of people in the smoking area, the other two girls following her close behind. She finally arrives the bar and sits down in one of the chairs.

 “Hello, may I get you something to drink?” someone behind her asks. She swirls in her chair and is faced by a blonde girl with grey eyes. Zatanna smiles and nods her head “Yeah, totally! I think I’ll get tequila sour please” she looks at her two friends now sitting on the chairs on her sides “What about you guys? Want something to drink?” she asks.

 “Yeah, I would like a 7up please” Megan says, smiling at the waitress.

 “I’ll take a beer please” Raquel says and the waitress nods, turning around. Raquel starts eying her while she busies around preparing their drinks. When she returns to where they are and gives them their drinks, Raquel decides to ask “Are you new here?”

The waitress looks up suddenly and eyes Raquel suspiciously, but decides to answer “Hum… yeah, why?”

 “Oh, nothing, is just that I come here a lot of times and had never seen you before. All the staff knows me here. I’m Raquel, you can start getting used to me, because you’ll see me a lot of times” Raquel says, winking “After all, what better place to watch some handsome guys than this nice club?” she smirks and the other three girls laugh.

 “I’m Artemis, it’s nice to meet you” the waitress responds, and Raquel smiles, hoping to have earned the girl’s trust.

 “I’m Zatanna and this is Megan” Zatanna introduces them, pointing to herself and then at Megan, who smiles kindly.

 “It’s a pleasure to meet you” Megan says, earning a smile from Artemis “If you don’t mind if I ask… how old are you? You seem so young…”

 “I don’t mind it. I’m actually nineteen, going to start college in a few weeks. I had to get a job to earn some money…” Artemis says and Megan smiles brightly.

 “Are you going to be on Happy Harbor’s College?” Megan asks excitedly.

 “Yes, I will… why?” Artemis asks back.

 “Because we’re going there this year too!” Zatanna says, completing Megan’s reasoning.

 “No way, are you serious?” Artemis said with wide eyes, not believing it.

 “Yeah, totally!” Raquel said, laughing loudly “This is like destiny or something”

 A shiver runs down Artemis’ spine as she recalls the encounter she had about two hours ago with that woman, who said that she should watch her steps…

 She shakes her head to clear it from these thoughts, she must not believe that. She feels her throat go dry and gulps a little. When she’s about to answer Raquel, she spots from the corner of her eye a guy walking to the bar and sitting about six chairs away from them.

 “I’ve got to go attend that guy over there, be right back!” Artemis says and walks away from the girls.

 “Goodnight, may I get you something?” Artemis asks once she stops in front of the guy. He looks up and smiles at her. She raises an eyebrow. It’s dark inside of the club and he’s using a pair of aviators? Weird.

 “Yeah, actually you can. I would like a beer please” he says and Artemis nods, walking to the fridge and retrieving a beer from it. She cracks it open and walks back to the guy and hands him the beer.

 “Anything else?” she asks.

 “Hum… I was wondering… if you… well, you know the raven-haired girl over there”  he says, pointing to Zatanna with his head “I’d like to pay her another… well,  whatever she’s drinking or wants to drink” he says. Artemis smirks “Of course” she says. She walks to the group of girls who’re laughing loudly and leans against the counter.

 “Hey Zatanna?” she calls and Zatanna looks at her “Yeah?” she asks.

 “What do you want to drink?” Artemis asks.

 “Hum… why, I don’t want anything else…”

 “C’mon, courtesy of the guy over there” Artemis says, winking at her while pointing at the guy sitting away from them. Zatanna blushes and Raquel wiggles her eyebrows at her “Oooohh, he’s cute! Go for it Zee!”

 “Well… since he’s offering it, I think I’ll have another one of this” she says, pointing at her now empty glass of tequila sour. Artemis nods and goes prepare Zatanna’s drink. When she comes back to the girls, they’re evaluating the guy who offered the drink.

 “I don’t know… why is he using those aviators when it’s already so dark in here?” says Megan.

 “Because he has swag M’gann! I think it looks really hot” Raquel replies back.

 “Yeah, he _is_ hot” says Zatanna, eyeing the guy up and down. Artemis rolls her eyes at them and places Zatanna’s drink down in front of her.

 “What do you think Artemis?” Megan asks, looking at her.

 “Hum… yeah, he’s cute” says Artemis, shrugging a little.

 “’He’s cute’? That’s all you have to say about this hottie?” Raquel asks with a raised eyebrow. Artemis shrugs again “Yeah, that’s it”

 “See?? Even Artemis hasn’t that much to say. You’re the only one who keeps talking so greatly about him. We don’t even know who he is!” Megan reasons.

 “Yeah, exactly, and that’s why Zee is going to ask him his number!” Raquel says, pulling Zatanna out of her chair.

 “Wait, what?” Zatanna hasn’t time to ask anything more, since Raquel pushed her towards the chair where the guy is sitting on.

 “Hum… hi” she says awkwardly, getting the guy’s attention. He looks at her and smiles “Hi” he replies.

 “Uh… thanks… I mean, for the drink” she says, pointing towards the girls. He nods “You’re welcome… want to take a seat?” he asks. She nods and sits down next to him.

  “So, what’s your name?” he asks.

 “Zatanna. Yours?”

 “My name is Richard Grayson, but everyone calls me Dick” he says, shrugging a little. Zatanna laughs a little at this.

 “Why Dick?” she asks curiously.

 “Honestly, I don’t remember anymore” Zatanna laughs at this “I guess the name just stuck”

 

 “Well girls, our mission is accomplished” Raquel says, beaming proudly. Megan and Artemis laugh at this.

 “Yeah, let’s hope that she gets his number” Artemis says and looks around the bar when she spots three guys in a table near the stairs, looking over at the guy and Zatanna, the three of them laughing and pointing at them. She narrows her eyes.

 “Uh… is everything alright Artemis?” Megan asks.

 “Okay, I don’t really like to accuse anyone of anything, but those guys look really suspicious to me” she says, pointing discretely at them. The other two girls look and see the same thing Artemis did.

 “Oh, no they aren’t! Let’s get this story straight!” Raquel says, getting up from her seat quickly.

 “Raquel, I don’t think you should-” Megan starts but Raquel only holds a hand up to silence her. Artemis could see that there was no way they were going to change her mind, so she decided to tag along “Wait a second, I’m just going to tell Lindsay I’ll take my break now”

 Artemis runs to the employees room and straightens her clothes “Lindsay, can I take my break now please?” she asks. Lindsay looks up from the magazine she was reading and smiles at Artemis “Of course Artemis, just don’t take long okay, I’ll take your place while you have your break” she says, closing the magazine and getting up from the couch.

 “Thank you Lindsay” Artemis says, already running out of the room and to the girls “I’m here”

 “Awesome, let’s go” Raquel says, striding over to the guys with a furious face. They stop laughing suddenly and look at the fuming female “May I ask what is it that you find so funny about those two?” she asks, pointing to her friend and the guy she’s with.

 “Wow! There’s no need to get your panties in a twist babe! We’re just… looking” one of the guys says chuckling a little. Artemis eyes the guy. He has vibrant red hair, his face has a few freckles here and there, but what stuns her the most are his eyes… an emerald green color.

 Raquel grabs his shirt collar and looks him in the eyes “You better not speak to me like that!” she says. Artemis was about to intervene but another guy had already gotten up and pulled her away from the guy.

 “Let me go!” says Raquel and the guy who grabbed her let go of her.

 “I apologize for that and for my friend’s behavior” the guy says. He has dark skin and blond hair in a buzz cut. Raquel blushes furiously, realizing how she was behaving.

 “I’m so sorry for my behavior too” she says “I just saw you staring and laughing at my friend and the guy who’s with her… I guess I just entered ‘defensive mode’, you know… Anyways, I’m Raquel, this is Artemis and Megan” she says, pointing at the other two girls who wave at the guys.

 “It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kaldur’ahm but you can call me Kaldur. This is Wally West” he says, pointing to the red-haired “And this is Conner Kent” he says, pointing to the guy who has been quiet since their arrival. He has jet black hair with beautiful blue eyes. He nods at them and Artemis sees Megan blushing furiously and chuckles slightly. She nods her head at the guy too and goes back to listening to Raquel and Kaldur’s conversation.

 “He is our friend too, Dick Grayson. Actually, he had an eye on your friend since your arrival and we made a bet so that he would find the courage to go offer her a drink and indeed it worked” said Kaldur. Raquel and Kaldur kept chatting and Artemis eventually got bored, so she turned to Megan, who was standing there, looking timidly to the ground. Artemis elbows her slightly and she looks up. Artemis winks and whispers “Go for it M’gann”. This only made Megan blush even more. Artemis looked at her clock and sighed.

 “I’ve got to go… stay with Raquel and talk to him” she says, whispering the last part.

 “No, I’ll go with you” Megan says, walking to her.

 “No way, you stay here and see if you pull yourself together, if you’re both shy, you’ll never talk in your life. You can do it Megan” Artemis says, waving at her as she walks away.

 She goes to the counter again and warns Lindsay that she’s back, so that the girl could go back to what she was doing. She attends a few more clients until she sees the guy -Wally was his name? – sitting in one of the bar chairs. She sighs and walks over to him.

 “May I get you something?” she asks him. He smiles at her.

 “’Course beautiful, I’ll have a beer please” he says and Artemis glares at him.

 “Don’t… call me that” she growls.

 “Maybe Arty is better? Or maybe goddess since your name is Artemis like the goddess of the moon and hunt” he winks at her.

 “Oh, don’t say! I didn’t know that, it’s not like almost everyone tells me that when they know my name” she says.

 “Okay, so Arty it is!” he states.

 “I never said you could actually call me that!”

 “You never said I couldn’t either!” he says back. She growls and turns away, walking to the fridge and getting his beer. She walks back to him and places the beer in front of him. She starts to walk away but is stopped by his voice “Hey, Arty, I think you forgot to open the beer!” he says. Artemis stops in her tracks and breaths in deeply. She turns around slowly with a fake smile on her face.

 “Yes, of course I did” she says, picking up the beer and opening it “There _Baywatch_ , is there something else I can do for you?” she asks sweetly. It’s his time to growl at her nickname for him “Oh, no _Arty_ , I’m fine _thank you_ ” he says. They growl at each other and she stomps away.

-xxx-

Finally, it’s time for her to go home! Raquel, Zatanna and Megan left about half hour go and she was dying to go home.

 She says her goodbyes to everyone and climbs the stairs, walking outside the club. She starts walking to her car, thinking about the night’s events. She had never been as outgoing with people as she had been with the three girls she met. She talked so easily and freely with them, it was like they had already known each other for years. She smiles at herself, they were all so nice and funny. Zatanna had exchanged numbers with Dick and they spent all night talking with each other. Megan had the courage to talk to Conner and even if they two hadn’t talked much since Conner isn’t a very talkative person, they still exchanged numbers, the same for Raquel and Kaldur. Resuming, everyone got each other’s numbers, even her.

 A cool breeze washes past her and she shivers slightly. _Ugh, why did I park my car so far away from the club… walking in the middle of all these trees can be intimidating_ she thinks to herself.

 She stops in her tracks when she hears the sound of branches cracking. Her heart drops and she starts walking faster, trying to reach her car. When she finally arrives she realizes she had been running to get there. She unlocks her car and gets in, locking all doors. Even inside of the car she seems to listen footsteps walking in the direction of her car. She starts it quickly and drives off, trying to get home as fast as she can. Then she remembers it again… and because of what happened the words haunt her while she makes the rest of her journey home and even in her sleep.

  _You can’t go! You can’t go today!_

 

 _The place you’re about to go, is going to change your life forever._  
It’s time for decisions, it’s now or never.  
 Don’t do something you’ll regret, you cannot turn back time,   
Whatever you’ll decide right now, is going to affect your whole life.   
Think with your mind, think with your soul,   
either you’re going to God or the Devil will smash it all

_Watch your steps young lady, you’re in a lot of danger!_

 


	2. The Nightmare

Wow, these past three weeks passed by in a flash. She can’t believe that tomorrow’s already her first day in college and she’s so nervous.

 “Okay Artemis, everything’s going to go just fine, don’tworry” she says, trying to calm herself down. But that doesn’t work at all, she just keeps paranoid about everything that might happen. She hears her phone beep and picks it up from the table.

  _Hey Artemis, since tomorrow starts college, I was wondering if you’d like to go shopping with us? – Zatanna_

  Artemis smiles and types a quick ‘Okay, I’ll be in there in twenty minutes’. She puts her phone down and runs into her bedroom, searching quickly for something to dress. Since today is really hot, she decides to go for a pair of shorts and a turquoise tank top. She puts on a pair of black Vans. She undoes her braid and picks up a hairbrush, starting to brush her hair in front of her bedroom mirror.

 Once she finishes, she looks at herself in the mirror. Her eyes widen. The outfit looks good on her and with her long blonde hair falling in waves on her shoulders, she looks quite… beautiful. And she’s not used to looking beautiful. Of course people have already told her she’s beautiful, but she just takes it as them being nice and polite and most of those times she just replies with a forced ‘Thanks’, burying the subject.

 She sighs, frustrated and goes to her closet. She starts looking for another thing to dress when her phone beeps. She walks into the living room and picks it up, reading Zatanna’s new text.

_We’re already here. Meet us at ‘Fire &Ice’. See ya :) _

 Artemis looks up at the clock on the wall and realizes that since Zatanna sent the text, it has already passed fifteen minutes. She said she would meet them in twenty so she just has five minutes. And the trip from her house to the mall takes 5 minutes, sooo…

  “Oh, forget it! I’ll just go with these clothes!” she picks up everything she needs after replying to Zatanna and gets out of the house.

-xxx-

 Once she arrives at the mall, she parks her car and walks in. She looks around and sighs. _Great_ , she thinks. _With the rush I completely forgot that I don’t know where ‘Fire &Ice’ is_.

 She walks through the first floor, looking for the café… or maybe it’s a store… or a mini-market.

 “This is pointless!” Artemis says out loud “I don’t even know _what_ ‘Fire &Ice’ is!” she rummages through her bag until she finds her phone. She texts Zatanna asking where it was and, two minutes later the raven-haired girl responds.

_It’s on the third floor, next to McDonalds._

 Artemis walks up to the stairs and climbs to the second floor. When she’s about to climb the second rail of stairs to the third floor she stops in her tracks when she feels a hand land heavily on her shoulder. She turns around quickly and is faced by a guy about 3 inches taller than her. He has ice blue eyes and his blonde hair is such a light shade that it almost looks white. He smiles smugly down at her and she cringes.

 “Hey babe. Are you lost? Because, if you are, I wouldn’t mind giving you a tour around the mall. And then, maybe you could ad my number on the list?” he says, winking at her. She wrinkles her nose. Not because he is ugly, not at all, on the contrary; he is quite handsome. But something in him just wasn’t right. And she doesn’t mean his smug attitude, even if that might have something to do with it.

 “No, thank you, I’m alright. I know where I have to go. Sooo… yeah, I’ll just get going” she says, turning around and continuing to walk towards the stairs. She feels his cold hand grabbing her arm again and she clenches her jaw.

 “I think I was clear when I said that I didn’t want help” she says through gritted teeth, turning around and facing the blond once again.

 “Yes, you did babe. But, I’m not those kind of guys who give up after the first try. I’m very-” He stops, as if thinking the right word to describe himself “-persistent” he finishes, seeming pleased with the word he chose.

 “Yes, I can see you are. But, I’ll give you some advice: when a girl says no, and by girl I mean myself, she really means it and she doesn’t like that much when a guy is that much ‘persistent’, as you put it. So, if I say to let go, you should listen to what I say” she says, grabbing his hand and trying to get him to let go of her arm. She gives up with a sigh “I really didn’t want to beat your sorry ass in front of all these people and make a scene, but you leave me no choice, so-”

 “Haven’t you heard her? Let go” a deep voice says from behind the blond. He turns around, still grabbing Artemis’ arm and is face-to-face with a familiar red-haired boy.

 “And who do you think you are to give me orders?” replied the blond.

 “Let go Cameron, don’t make me hurt you” Wally said. He grabbed Cameron’s arm as well and tightened his grip. Cameron let go of Artemis’ arm and confronted the red-haired boy.

 “I don’t think you should be giving me orders. I don’t like when someone inferior gives me orders. Especially a stupid sp-”

 “Shut up!” Wally barked “I said for you to not make me hurt you, but I’ve got to say that you make it hard. Get out of here” Wally says, pointing to his right.

 “I said that I don’t take orders from you-” the blond started but Wally interrupted.

 “And I said to get out of here” Wally repeated, more calmly. Cameron cursed under his breath and stalked away. Wally turned to Artemis and smiled at her “Are you okay-” he started to ask but Artemis interrupted him.

 “I’m fine” she said harshly “I didn’t need your help. I could’ve had handled myself pretty well, thank you”

 Wally raised his eyebrows at her and eyed her up and down “You don’t say” he said back “Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?” he asks.

 “Excuse me? You were the one who wanted to play the hero part and help the defenseless lady. But, guess what? I don’t need help and much less am I the defenseless girl, got it?” she said in a hiss. He looked at her with confused eyes that quickly changed to angry ones.

 “Fine! Whatever you want, but I was not trying to be a hero and I know that you’re not defenseless, but hey! If you want to think that, I don’t even care. You don’t know me that much to take that kind of conclusions-”

 “You don’t know me either!!”

 “Yeah, and believe me when I say that after this, I don’t know if I want to!”

 “Great, than we share the same opinion!”

 “Great!”

“Great!” they keep there, staring at each other fiercely and panting hard from all the arguing.

 “I’ll just get going then” Wally says, being the first one to break eye contact with the blonde. She stares down at the floor and rearranges her tank top.

 “Yeah, I’m already late anyways…” she says, looking at the stairs. He follows her gaze too and looks at her again.

 “So… bye then” he says, walking away from her.

 “Bye…” she whispers back, but she’s certain he didn’t hear her. _Stupid!_ She thinks to herself _Maybe he really just wanted to be nice… Not everyone is like your other ‘friends’, if you even could call them that. They only helped if they wanted something back from me… I guess that’s why I don’t accept help that easily…_

 She sighs and shakes her head to clear it from these thoughts. She came to this town to get a fresh new start and she wouldn’t get that if she kept thinking about her past. She climbs the stairs and once she arrives the top one, she eyes the third floor, looking for McDonalds or ‘Fire&Ice’. She spots the first one at the far end and she starts walking quickly. Just as Zatanna said, ‘Fire&Ice’ is right next to McDonalds.

 She enters the ice cream shop (after all, it isn’t a café nor a store nor a mini-market) and sees the girls sitting on a table at the end of the room. She walks to them and smiles.

 “Hey girls, how’s it going?” she asks, sitting on the empty chair next to Megan.

 “Hi Artemis” they all greet back.

 “We were starting to get worried, Zatanna responded to your text ten minutes ago. Where were you?” Raquel asks, sticking her spoon into the ice cream bowl in front of her and taking a spoonful of it and stuffing it into her mouth.

 “Let’s just say that I had an… unexpected” Artemis says back, picking up the menu from the table and looking at the various ice creams and their various prices.

 “Hum… that unexpected sounds like ‘boy’. What happened?” Zatanna asked.

Artemis buries her head deeper in the menu “Have you seen these crepes? They look delicious!” she says, trying to change the subject.

 “Okay, it definitely has to do with a boy… or maybe boys?” Zatanna says, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively “Spit it out”

 Artemis sighs and starts telling the three girls what happened not too long ago. Once she finishes, she looks expectantly at the three girls “Well?” she asks “What do you think?”

 “Maybe you were a little too harsh with Wally… I think he was just trying to help” Megan says.

 “Or maybe he was really just trying to seduce her. That boy has ‘womanizer’ stamped on his forehead. He looks like a total flirt” Raquel said, playing with her ice cream spoon.

 “What do you think Zatanna?” Artemis asks.

 “I probably shouldn’t tell you guys this but… Wally has a story, ya know? Dick told me about it-” Zatanna started but was interrupted by Artemis and Megan saying in unison “Ooooh, Dick?”

 Zatanna rolls her eyes “Yes, Dick. I don’t see what the problem is-”

 “Are you kidding girl??” Raquel says. She then turns to the other two girls “They have been going on dates for the past two weeks! I think this is starting to get serious between the two of them”

 “Omg! When were you planning to tell us?” Megan says, looking at Zatanna. The raven-haired female blushes furiously “It’s not like that. We’re just friends-”

 “With benefits” Raquel adds, making Megan squeal again “What do you mean?” she asked.

 “I’ve caught the two of them making out on our apartment sofa. When I arrived and they broke apart, they were both blushing like mad and panting. It was so awkward” Raquel answers.

 “Sooo… just friends , uh?” Artemis asks, stirring the milkshake that the waitress just brought to her with the straw and smirking at her friend.

 “How is this about me now? We were talking about Wally and Artemis!” Zatanna says, changing the subject.

Artemis shakes her head “Nah ah, there is no ‘Wally and Artemis’ on the same sentence” she declares.

 “Anyways, as I was saying before everyone started attacking me” Zatanna says, looking at each one of them “Wally has a story. Dick told me that three years ago he had fallen in love with some girl… I think Linda was her name? Well, it looks like they dated for five months and he was more than willing to do anything for her, he even kept away from Dick and the others for quite a while for he just wanted to stay with her all the time. Dick said that she was popular and a lot of boys wanted her, and because she was done of Wally being always next to her and almost not letting her breath, she cheated on him with some guy. Wally caught the two of them in bed and his heart was broken. He asked her why did she do it and if she didn’t love him back and she said she did, but with the time they spent together, she just stopped loving him because she thought he was kind of annoying and didn’t let her breath. After that, Dick said that Wally never was the same again, that his heart is still broken but he tries to cover it with girls and more girls, but never nothing serious. He is so afraid of getting his heart even more broken that he doesn’t date girls too long and doesn’t even give them a chance to try and make things work out between them” Zatanna finishes. All the girls were silent, digesting the story Zatanna just told them.

 Megan was the first one to break the silence “Poor Wally… I had no idea that was why he was like that…”

 “See? That’s the thing I hate so much about boys!! Once they get their hearts broken or something bad happens they try to fix it with girls and getting drunk! That’s extremely annoying!” Raquel says, huffing.

 “I guess that’s just how they are… maybe they can’t help it. The thing is, you have to give him a little credit. I was shocked when you told me he defended you” Zatanna said, turning to Artemis “I don’t think he ever did that. Which does bring the question: Why did he defend _you_? You two only met three weeks ago and you never talked again since then… am I right?”

 “Yes, you are. We never talked to each other since then. And at the club, when we talked it wasn’t exactly... friendly. And it was only during 5 minutes at max” Artemis explains, recalling their conversation at the bar.

 “See? There has to be something about this…” Zatanna says, wondering out loud. She then shakes her head “But anyways, let’s forget this for a moment. After all, we came here to shop!” she says excitedly. All the girls finish eating their ice creams and drinking their milkshakes and walk out of the ice cream shop.

-xxx-

 Artemis throws all her shopping bags to the couch and her house and car keys on the kitchen table. She’s exhausted. Zatanna, Megan and Raquel almost threatened her to death if she didn’t try on some outfits they saw and thought would look good on her. And, by some, I mean _a lot_. She chuckles, remembering their squeals when they saw an outfit for her or when she gave up and put on everything they wanted her to. She walks to the fridge and takes off a water bottle, taking a huge gulp from it. She looks over at the kitchen clock: 9PM. She closes the bottle and puts it back on the fridge.

 She walks into the bathroom and prepares herself to take a relaxing bubble bath. She turns the water on until it fills the tub and, after undressing, she enters it carefully. She lets out a relaxed moan when the water covers her body entirely. Closing her eyes, she recalls all that happened that day. She even thinks about Wally’s story a little while. Once she finishes, she dries herself, puts on a pair of shorts and a large tank top and walks into the kitchen. She prepares a sandwich and fills a glass with orange juice for her dinner. She puts the plate and the glass of juice on a tray and walks into the living room again.

 “Aw, I’ve got to clean up this mess” she says to herself, looking at the shopping bags “I’ll just put them in my room and then I’ll tidy them” she puts the tray down at the coffee table and picks up the bags. After putting them in her room, she sits on the couch and turns on the TV.

-xxx-

 She wakes up in a dark room. The ground feels cold against her tanned skin while she sits up straightly, adapting her eyes to the lack of light. She looks around the room, and, at the end of it, she can identify three chairs, all of them occupied by three figures that are clearly women. Artemis starts walking carefully towards the chairs and when she’s almost there, a bright light turns on. She cringes and closes her eyes, putting an arm over them to protect them.  Once her eyes adapt, she removes the arm carefully and looks over at the three female’s bodies. She can see clearly the ropes tying the girls to their chairs. The one in the middle has long black hair falling in waves in her face. She’s passed out and her head is hanging in front of her, so Artemis can’t see her face clearly. The other one to her right has brown hair… but it’s not a common brown, it’s a brown that almost looks like orange and, such as the other one, her head is hanging in front of her and her hair is falling over her face. The last one, to her left, has short, black hair that only covers her eyes. Her head is also hanging in front of her. Artemis narrows her eyes. These three girls look vaguely familiar, even though she hasn’t seen their faces.

 The girl with brown hair starts moving a little. Her head shots straight up and she lets out a painful moan. Artemis gasps and stumbles backward.

 “M- Megan?” she asks.

 Megan looks up upon hearing her name and her eyes widen, such as Artemis’. Megan is hurt. A lot. She has cuts all over her face and her right eye is completely swollen and purple.

 “A-Ar-Artemis? What are you doing here?” she asks, her eyes filling with tears.

 “M’gann! What happened?” Artemis asks again, starting to get closer again.

 “You have to get out of here Artemis! Go get help! If he sees you, he’s going after you too!” Megan whispers.

 “ _He_? Who’s _he_ Megan? And I’m not leaving you!” Artemis says.

 “Get out of here Artemis! Now!” Artemis was about to respond when Megan’s eyes widen once again “Artemis! Behind you!” she screams.

 Artemis starts to turn around but it’s already too late, someone knocks her in her head with a bat, making her fall to the ground unconscious, but not before hearing Megan’s desperate cry.

 “ARTEMIS!”

-

 She wakes up once again, but she’s not in that dark room anymore… she’s in the middle of a forest. She’s a little dizzy, but she can hear voices on the background, saying something. She looks around and spots the image of a muscular guy running towards her. She starts walking backwards and when she’s about to run away, he grabs her arm. She closes her eyes and struggles to get free from his grasp, but it only tightens.

 “Artemis? Is that you?” a voice asks. She stops struggling and opens her eyes to see none other than Conner. She sighs, relieved and he slowly let’s go of her.

 “Conner… what are you doing here?” she ask, raising her eyebrows. She then starts to remember Megan, Raquel and Zatanna “Oh my god, we’ve got to help Raquel! And Zatanna! And Megan! They’re being held captive by some man and he’s beating them up! We have to help them!” she says desperately. She notices how Conner’s face shows worry and concern when she mentions Megan.

 “What? Where are them?” he asks.

 “I don’t know…. It was too dark and I only know that because Megan awoke and told me to run away…”

 “How is she? Is she okay?” he asks, shaking her slightly.

 “I-I don’t know” she stutters out “She was really hurt and beaten up” Artemis’ eyes fill up with tears and Conner hugs her tightly.

 “We’re going to find them, I promise” Conner whispers in her ear. She simply nods and wipes the tears away.

 “How long have you been here?” he asks, letting go of her.

 “Not too long. Why?”

 “Then, I suppose you haven’t seen Dick or Kaldur, have you?”

 “No, I haven’t… why? Were they with you?”

 “Yeah, they were… we had to run away from someone, so we thought it would be better if we split up…”

 “Wait, wait, wait! You were running away from someone?” she asks worriedly.

 “Yes… he was chasing us… I mean, _they_ were chasing us, it was two of them” he says.

 “Why were they chasing you?”

 Conner looks around and then at Artemis again “Because of… _that_ ”

 Her eyes widen instantly and she stumbles backwards, her hand on her chest “Him? It can’t be him…”

 “But it was… “ Conner says, rubbing his face with both his hands. He sighs frustrated “We don’t have time for this, we need to find Kaldur and Dick. Let’s go” he says, starting to walk. She grabs his arm to stop him.

 “It’s better if we split up. Do you have a watch?” he nods “Then we’ll meet here in half an hour, okay?”

 He nods once again and they both run in opposite directions.

-

Artemis has already been looking for twenty minutes when she hears a harsh whisper. She stops in her tracks and listen attentively. That it is again, someone whispering her name. She looks around and spots Kaldur behind a tree.

 “Kaldur!” She whispers back, running to him and hugging him “I was looking for you or Dick. Are you okay?”

 “I am fine, do not worry. Why were you looking for me or Dick?”

 “I found Conner, he told me what happened and we split up to look after you” she explains quickly “But now, we need to go, come on” she starts walking in the opposite direction she came from and Kaldur follows her.

 “Hum… were you with Raquel?” he asks shyly. Artemis stops in her tracks and sighs deeply. She turns around to face the man and sees his worried face.

 “She’s… she’s with Megan and Zatanna” she explains and his face looks relieved for a second, before she finishes “But they’re not fine… they are really beaten up and they need help quickly. We’ll help them once we get out of here”

 “You were with them?” Kaldur asks, his face showing concern again.

 “I saw them for a little while. But then, someone hit me with a bat and I passed out”

 “I see. You did not see your attacker’s face?”

 Artemis looks down embarrassed “I-I… no… it was too dark” she finally says.

 “It is fine. Do not be concerned with that, I-”

“How can I not be concerned? I’m so afraid that he might hurt them even more!” she says, walking away from Kaldur and sitting down next to a tree “Kaldur… I’m scared” she whispers. She almost can hear him open his mouth to reply, but it isn’t what she was expecting to hear.

 “ARTEMIS!”

-

She groans when her eyes open once again, this time to watch the moon light. She sits up and looks at her surroundings. She’s in the middle of a road. She gets up with her hand on her head, which is hurting pretty badly right now.

 She’s startled by the sound of someone moving in some bushes near the road. She puts herself in a defensive pose when a bunch of red hair gets out of the bushes. She lets her arms fall down and eyes the person in front of her. Her heart tightens in her chest and tears stream down her face.

 “Wally” she whispers, right before running into the boy’s awaiting arms. He strokes her hair, calming her down.

 “Artemis, are you okay?” he asks, holding her face between his hands. She nods and, when he’s certain she’s fine he crashes his lips onto hers. She responds eagerly to his kiss, closing her eyes and forgetting everything around her for a moment. When they break apart, they’re both panting. Tears still stream down her face. Wally leans his forehead against hers and whispers “Everything’s okay beautiful, I’m here with you, I won’t let go”

 And it’s at his words that she finally loses it. She starts sobbing and he pulls her into his chest, whispering soothing words to her and rubbing small circles on her back. When she finally calms down, she starts explaining everything to him. About Megan, Zatanna, Raquel, Conner, Kaldur and Dick.

 “I was looking for them too” he says when she finishes “Me, Dick, Conner and Kaldur were supposed to meet at Jo’s, but they didn’t appear, so I found it strange and went look for them”

 “I don’t know how I woke up in different places everytime and-” she stops abruptly when she spots something on the other side of the road “No… no, no, no! It can’t be” she whispers, more tears filling her eyes.

 “What can’t it be beautiful?” Wally asks, looking at the other side of the road and seeing nothing.

 “Don’t you see them Wally? They’re right there… they’re… they’re there!” she says, pointing at the other side of the road. Wally raises an eyebrow at her “’They’ who?” he asks.

 “Kaldur! And Dick and Conner and Megan! Zatanna and Raquel too! They’re laying there and they’re not moving!”

 Wally puts his hands on her shoulders “Beautiful, you’re seeing things. There’s no one on the other side of the road” he says and she shakes her head.

 “There is, Wally! Why can’t you see them? I’m not seeing things, they’re there!!” she says.

Wally shakes his head “Artemis, they’re not there!” she shakes her head and he shakes her slightly by her shoulders “Listen to me! There’s just you and me on this road, babe. No one else, okay?” he says.

 

 She shakes her head once again and frees herself from his grasp. She starts running to the other side of the road when bright lights hit her, right before a car.

 “ARTEMIS!”

-xxx-

 Artemis wakes up abruptly, breathing rapidly and her heart beating frantically in her chest. She looks around and is relieved to see her living room, ‘SpongeBob’ starting on the TV. She gets up from the couch and walks into the bathroom, opening the tap and splashing cold water onto her face. She picks up the towel and dries it.

 “What a dream…” she wonders out loud “Or better, nightmare”

She walks out of the bathroom and goes into the kitchen, taking out a glass from one of the cabinets and filling it with water. She drinks it and walks to the dishwasher to put there the cup, but something makes her stop. A shiver runs down her spine and she turns around abruptly, letting go of the glass, breaking it into million pieces when it contacts with the ground.

 “Calm down Artemis… probably just a shadow from the television” she says, her now empty hand on her chest, trying to calm her frantic heart. She looks at the kitchen’s clock: 1AM. She looks down at the mess she just made and sighs “Let’s clean this up” she tells herself.

 After she cleans everything, including her meal’s dishes that were on the coffee table, she turns off the television and goes to her bedroom, lying down on her bed.

 But until she falls asleep, the feeling of being watched never leaves her side.


End file.
